President Joe Biden is meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House on Friday in a one-on-one meeting where the war in Ukraine is expected to be the main focus.
The talks will reportedly be confidential and will, atypically, not include a press delegation. Scholz set off for Washington, D.C., Thursday on the visit that was planned at least two weeks in advance.
IF PLANNED UKRAINE OFFENSIVE FALTERS, AIR POWER ADVOCATES WILL BLAME BIDEN FOR LOSS
The meeting is expected to last just an hour, per the Guardian, whom a U.S. official told the meeting will allow the world leaders a chance to "exchange notes" on their respective recent meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Welcome to Washington once again, Chancellor Scholz! It is an honor to welcome you, @Bundeskanzler, for a talk with @POTUS as we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/qTbu6pOf6K
— Emily Haber (@GermanAmbUSA) March 3, 2023
Scholz and Germany have made national headlines in recent months regarding supplying Ukraine with modern tanks that could bolster the Eastern European country's defense against Russia's invasion. After initial reluctance, Germany eventually decided to donate a squadron of the highly-regarded Leopard tanks. But Germany's apprehension in immediately sending the military aid to Ukraine frustrated certain Ukrainian allies, including U.S. lawmakers, who have since turned their fury toward Biden and his reluctance to send F-16 jets to Kyiv.
At the height of concerns for the two Western powers is recent intelligence that Secretary of State Antony Blinken said suggests China is "strongly considering" sending lethal aid to Moscow. China pushed back on the accusation and blamed the U.S. for being an aggressor in the war in Ukraine by providing weapons to Kyiv.
"I certainly would expect in the context of talking about what's going on in Ukraine that the issue of a third-party support to Russia could come up," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said when asked if sanctions against China would be a topic for the German and American heads of state.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the coming months after Putin met with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi within the past two weeks. Russia's ties to Beijing, as well as Tehran, could also serve as a focus of Biden and Scholz's meeting as the two influential leaders reckon with what their burgeoning relationships could mean for Ukraine and the rest of the world.
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The White House is expected to announce a new military aid package to Ukraine on Friday, albeit without F-16 jets. The Biden administration has contributed more than $31 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded.